George Soros’ Philanthropy, Social And Political Concerns

George Soros is among the world’s profound philanthropists, having donated more than $12 billion to date. His donations have supported organizations and individuals across the world fighting for transparency, freedom of expression, accountable government as well as societies, which promote equality and justice. This giving has primarily focused on those facing discrimination purely for who they are. George Soros has supported agencies representing the Roma people of Europe, and other who have been pushed to the perimeters of conventional society such as sex workers, drug users, and LGBTI people.

George Soros has faced such intolerance firsthand. Born in 1930 in Hungary, Soros lived through the 1944-5’s occupation of the Nazi, which led to the murder of more than half a million Hungarian Jews. Soros’ Jewish family survived by concealing their background, sourcing for false identity papers on Politico, and assisting others to do the same. Later, Soros recalled that instead of submitting to their fate, they resisted an evil force, which was stronger than they were and yet they prevailed. Not only did they survive, according to Soros, but also they managed to help others. After the war, as the Communists attempted to consolidate power in Hungary, Soros left Budapest for London in 1947, working part-time as a nightclub waiter and railway porter to finance his studies at the London School of Economics.

Soros immigrated to the United States of America in 1970 and indulged in the world of investments and finance, from where he was later to make his fortune on opensocietyfoundations.org. George launched the Soros Fund Management, his own hedge fund, in 1970, and went on to become among the most successful investors in United States’ history. Soros utilized his fortune to establish Open Society Foundations, which is a network of partners, foundations, and projects in over 100 nations. Its name and works reflect the influence inherent on Soros thinking of Karl Popper’s philosophy on Forbes, which George Soros first encountered during his stay at the London School of Economics. Popper, in his book, argues that no ideology or philosophy is the truth’s final arbiter and that a society may flourish when it allows for freedom of expression, democratic governance, as well as respect for individual rights – an approach at the Open Society Foundations’ works’ core.

George Soros began his charitable deed in 1979, giving scholarships to many South Africans under the apartheid tenure on discoverthenetworks.org. In the 1980s, Soros aided in promoting the open exchange of ideologies in the Communist Eastern Bloc by offering photocopiers for use in reprinting banned texts. Soros created the Central European University, after the Berlin Wall’s fall, to foster critical thinking. Soros funded cultural exchanges between the West and Eastern Europe, playing a vital role in aiding the Soviet society. After the end of cold war, George expanded his philanthropy to Africa, United States, and Asia, supporting a full spectrum of new efforts directed towards the creation of more transparent, accountable and democratic societies.